17–18 May 2025
The great guitarist Marc Ribot makes a welcome return to OTO for another hotly anticipated couple of nights of solo performance. Ribot's solo performances are unpredictable events which may draw on all of his past recordings or none of them, creating a sonic matrix of memory, free improvisation, zeitgeist, extra-terrestrial radio signals, and much more... always leaving the listener on the edge of their seats.
“In the hear-a-pin-drop setting of Cafe Oto, Ribot's intense, heartfelt commitment invited not only the closest of listening but also allowed scrutiny of his technical approach, offering a minor spectacle as well as a rare, transportative musical experience.” – London Jazz News, review of his 2015 OTO residency
Marc Ribot, who the New York Times describes as “a deceptively articulate artist who uses inarticulateness as an expressive device,” has released 19 albums under his own name over a 25-year career, exploring everything from the pioneering jazz of Albert Ayler to the Cuban son of Arsenio Rodríguez. His latest solo release, Silent Movies (Pi Recording 2010) has been described as a "down-inmouth-near master piece" by the Village Voice and has landed on several Best of 2010 lists including the LA Times and critical praise across the board.
Rolling Stone points out that “Guitarist Marc Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985's Rain Dogs, and since then he's become the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of roots-music adventurers: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp.” Additional recording credits include Elton John/Leon Russell’s latest The Union, Solomon Burke, John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards, Marianne Faithful, Joe Henry, Allen Toussaint, Medeski Martin & Wood, Caetono Veloso, Susana Baca, Allen Ginsburg, Madeline Peyroux, Nora Jones, Jolie Holland, Akiko Yano, The Black Keys, and many others. Marc works regularly with Grammy® award winning producer T Bone Burnett and NY composer John Zorn. He has also performed on numerous film scores such as "Walk The Line” (Mangold), "The Kids Are All Right," and "The Departed" (Scorcese).
“…he can sit down with just his guitar and simultaneously confound you with technique, beauty, and surprise.” - John Garratt and Will Layman, PopMatters Picks: The Best Music of 2010 for the album “Silent Movies”
